Today's adventure

This week is free of classes so I am making the most of discovering more events and places in Tokyo. One of the wonderful aspects of the Mary and Norman Sparnon Scholarship is that while studying hard at school I have some spare time to reinforce my knowledge of Japanese culture. My adventure today was to have the pleasure of Jacqueline (a Swiss student at ikebana classes) show me new places.

Our first stop was an ikebana exhibition at Meguro Gajoen. Unfortunately I was only able to take one photo outside the exhibition. Throughout this historical building various ikebana schools displayed their works to stunning backdrops of superb paintings on the ceiling and upper part of the walls. If you looked more closely at the features of the building one discovered intricate carvings, small lacquer and cloisonné works. Over whelmed by both the beauty of the historic building and the arrangements I only wish I could share what I saw, as no photos were permitted in the exhibition.

From the beauty of the exhibition and the surroundings we headed to a renowned cherry blossom viewing area, Meguro River where about eight hundred cherry trees line several hundred meters of the river. Maybe 5 days too early for the blossom the buds were almost ready to burst, only a few cheeky flowers showed their beauty against the dark branches. My dilemma is where to view the cherry blossom but I still think ‘my local’ garden Shinjuku Gyeon National Garden may be my best bet.